• Why chablis is one of the most coveted wines in the world

Chablis, the white wine made from chardonnay grapes grown in the Chablis region of Burgundy, gets much of its prized character from its terroir.

Specifically, it takes much of its flinty beauty from the soil, made up of bands of limestone and fossilised oyster shells that used to live here when this region was an ocean, about 150 million years ago.

It stands to reason, then, that oysters would go especially well with chablis, the fullness and salinity of both the bivalves and the wine playing off one another with a particularly magical harmony. 

This harmony serves as the foundation for Pearl Chablis and Oyster Bar, the latest venue from Jeremy Schinck, who also owns Pinchy's in the same building on Bourke Street. Specificity of culinary couplings is a passion of his; Pinchy's is built on a similar premise, albeit the pairing of lobster and champagne. 

Pearl, which has only 30 seats, is tucked into a corner on the first floor, and entering it from the un-charming CBD mini-mall in which it resides is a little like stepping though a portal and into another world. The room glows golden-pink, and rows of glassed-in backlit wine bottles – plus the marble bar stacked with ice and oysters – serve as the main decor. 

There are more than 500 bottles of chablis on the list, plus a handful of other white wines, a couple of sparkling wines, and two reds. The chablis list is grouped by producer, with a short description of each at the top of the page.

Prices range from under $100 to well into the multiple thousands, but the most exciting thing about this list is its overall affordability. There are dozens of choices in the $100-$130 range, many of them relative bargains. 

The oyster selection changes daily, and almost as soon as we were seated chef Marc-Antoine Nicolaii bounded to our table and quizzed us on our oyster proclivities.

With his thick French accent and boundless enthusiasm, Nicolaii was a charming teacher, regaling us with facts about the difference between young and more mature oysters, and advising us based on our tastes. The oysters we chose – a selection of various kinds ($5-$9 each) – were fantastic. 

The short menu is often made even shorter due to items being unavailable, and this is more of a snacking situation than a place to get a full meal. But Nicolaii knows how to do the classics and do them right. Duck liver parfait ($16), served with crusty baguette, is a dream of silken rich meatiness. Sea bream crudo ($18), dressed with lime and orange blossom, sung with bright freshness. 

The most substantial dish on the menu, a small dish of poached Murray cod ($28), comes drenched in a creamy warm horseradish sauce, and exhibits the best things about old-school French cooking while also managing to feel fresh and modern.  

Despite the exciting oyster selection, the charm of Nicolaii and the overall quality of the food, the experience of dining at Pearl was rather odd. 

Wines are served at 12 degrees, which the sommelier will be quick to tell you is the optimum temperature for chablis. But the room itself is quite warm, and the wine warms up quickly too. This became quite an issue at my table, with the somm visibly distraught at my request to ice the wine for a time.

There's a sense that the young sommelier – who was also the only server on the floor – has some of the affliction of the old days of craft cocktail bartenders, the curse of knowing a huge amount about a very specific subject and straining at the task of allowing people to come to that subject with their own ignorant preferences. People like what they like, and food and drinks education should feel fun, not judgmental. 

Even lovers of chablis are likely to find this list overwhelming, and choosing a bottle is not as easy as it could be. When asked if he could recommend a chablis in the $100-range that had a mineral finish, he told us that only Grand Cru wines would have that characteristic, and left the table without giving any recommendation at all.

This is just patently untrue, as evidenced by the lovely and lightly mineral 2020 Domaine des Hates Petit Chablis ($70) we chose on our own, but it underscores the issue of offering a list that many people will have trouble grasping if the person working doesn't really have time to explain it. 

And this was certainly the case on that evening – to be fair to our guy, he was incredibly busy, serving multiple tables on his own.

Which made it even more odd that just after 7pm the chef put on his scarf and left the restaurant, presumably for the evening. This left one person to manage the entire operation on his own, including plating any remaining food anyone ordered.

Perhaps there was an emergency. Perhaps, like almost every restaurant and bar, Pearl is understaffed right now. But service is an issue here, for reasons both understandable and avoidable. 

With a little more focus on the customer – who, to be fair, is just as important as the wines – this place could be a precious jewel in the crown of Melbourne's wine bars. 

The low-down

Pearl Chablis and Oyster Bar 

Vibe Intimate glowing jewel-box of a room

Go-to dish Selection of oysters ($5-$9 each)

Drinks Lots of chablis! And a few other things